Tuberculosis (TB) has been described as a global health crisis since the second half of the 1990s. Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the etiologic agent of TB in humans, is a very successful pathogen, being the main cause of death in the population among infectious agents. In 2019, it was estimated that around 10 million individuals were contaminated by this bacillus and about 1.2 million succumbed to the disease. In recent years, our research group has reported the design and synthesis of quinoline derivatives as drug candidates for the treatment of TB. These compounds have demonstrated potent and selective growth inhibition of drug-susceptible and drug-resistant Mtb strains. Herein, a new synthetic approach was established providing efficient and rapid access (15 min) to a series of 4-alkoxy-6-methoxy-2-methylquinolines using ultrasound energy. The new synthetic protocol provides a simple procedure utilizing an open vessel system that affords the target products at satisfactory yields (45–84%) and elevated purities (≥95%). The methodology allows the evaluation of a larger number of molecules in assays against the bacillus, facilitating the determination of the structure–activity relationship with a reduced environmental cost.
自20世纪90年代后半期以来,结核病(TB)一直被描述为全球健康危机。人类结核病的病原体——结核分枝杆菌(Mtb)是一种非常成功的病原体,是传染病中导致人口死亡的主要原因。据估计,2019年约有1000万人感染了这种杆菌,约120万人因此病逝。近年来,我们的研究小组报告了设计和合成喹啉衍生物作为治疗结核病的药物候选。这些化合物显示出对药物敏感和耐药的Mtb菌株具有强大且选择性的生长抑制作用。在此,我们建立了一种新的合成方法,利用超声波能量高效快速(15分钟)合成一系列4-烷氧基-6-甲氧基-2-甲基喹啉。新合成方案提供了一个简单的开放式反应系统,以令人满意的产率(45-84%)和高纯度(≥95%)获得目标产品。该方法允许在杆菌试验中评估更多数量的分子,有助于确定结构-活性关系,同时减少环境成本。